Badlands (Welcome To The Basement)

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Our first in a series of films by auteur directors, Terrence Malick takes us on a dark drive into the heartlands with 'Badlands'. Craig also has a strange theory about the 80s hits of Robert Palmer.
In Seen It, we discuss German Rockers, Dark Vigilantes and journey across the galaxy and into the afterlife.
All film footage is used in accordance with fair use and US copyright law. All music in the show is used with full permission of the composer.
Thanks for all the great comments. Keep em coming! If you watch one of the movies we discuss, let us know what you thought of it.
Welcome To The Basement" is a show about watching, discussing and having fun with movies. Matt choses the movie and Craig doesn't know what it is until the cameras start rolling, so none of the discussion or riffing is planned ahead of time.
Movie announced on facebook before every new episode. Get the movie and follow along. We do discuss the entire movie, including the ending, so if you want to avoid spoilers, watch the movie first.

[@vankook]

Your Analysis of Suckerpunch could not have been more spot on.

[@rayhs1984]

Haven't seen "Badlands" in a long time, but I remember liking it.

[@microhomebrew]

Correction. Humanity is not the only animal that murders other animals for no reason. The most famous and popular example other than humanity, is cats.

[@pohlerk]

I spot Electric Ladyland in the background! I have a vinyl collection of just over 200. You should do a Welcome To The Basement vinyl show where you listen to an album and talk about it. I'm actually going to a Hendrix Experience concert this Sunday in D.C! Super pumped.

[@MrAkilleus]

Just can't see Martin Sheen without seeing the illusive man from Mass effect. Thanks Bioware.

[@CaptIronfoundersson]

According to Wikipedia. Geeksploitation: 1. The practice of taking advantage of highly-motivated programmers willing to work long hours. 2000, Richard Grayson, The Silicon Valley Diet and Other Stories, Red Hen Press (2000), ISBN 9781888996234, page 149: Finding a new job just meant driving to another office-park campus with dopey street names (Disc Drive, Resistor Road, Infinite Loop) to endure more geeksploitation in exchange for dead presidents, stock options, a flexible schedule, no dress code, and all the junk food I could eat.

[@nishbrown]

"Geeksploitation". *CoughbigbangtheoryCough

[@GunshyPigeon]

yeh but we want something good. not that shit.

[@Sairex666]

Seen it! Have you seen ''Kill the Irishman''? I'm a huge fan of gangster films and this one seemed to stand out amongst others. While it does romanticize the particular life the same way other gangster movies do, ''Irishman'' truly puts a lot of heart into it, showcasing unmistakably likeable characters not only through story-telling, but also great acting. Also, gotta love anything with Walken. (say ''hi'' to Jason for me).

[@isk8asimcul]

my favert show!!!

[@steven_heron]

I watched the movie today. I wanted to see it before you talked about it. I loved it.

[@jackplaysfolk296]

That third man records reference was priceless

[@The_Order_Of_William_Marshal]

Great show as usual! Have you guys seen "Enter the Void" by Gaspar Noé? A movie shot entirely through the eyes of the main character. It does have a couple of disturbing scenes but, boy, what a real feast for the eyes.

[@happygoluckyscamp]

Love this show, getting me back into films after years of crap burning me out. Have you seen Come and See? The 1985 Soviet war movie that's scarier than any horror I've ever seen.

[@Hawkman220]

You guys should check out the movie Heist by David Mamet, if you haven't already.

[@cutezerker]

Have you guys seen berberian sound studio? One of my absolute favorite films of all time. A real tribute to the idea that blood,guts, and boobs don't equal a great horror movie. Its fantastic use of sound will give you chills.

[@LaughingOwlKiller]

Thing about Sucker Punch is it was exactly what Snyder meant for it to be. It was his vanity film encompassing everything he thought was cool. That being said have you seen Stand and Deliver.

[@SleepFan771]

Then what Snyder thinks is cool is also what 12 year olds like.

[@CQModels]

Seen it - Ravenous

[@carlyanncuadras]

I always get so excited to see you fellas in my subscription box! Have you ever seen Kung Fu Hustle? It fuses the awesome and the absurd in a totally brain-tickling way, if you know what I mean. (Not sure I know myself...) Anywhooo: Cheers!

[@fuzzywzhe]

Is the cat at the end from RedLetterMedia? You know, the guys that did the hour long star wars prequel reviews? I could swear that is Mr. Plinkett's cat.

[@HankCarver]

I just recently watched Seven Psychopaths and your mention of Tom Waits made me think about it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Talent bomb or talent grenade?

[@CiszHelion]

Have you guys seen "Sexy Beast"? Title track by the Stranglers. A killer rabbit. For a gangster film it has a surprising number of under water cinematography.

[@meb1982]

Is this movie vaguely based on Charlie Starkweather? Kato's place looks like Uncle Eddie's place in National Lampoon's Vacation. Actually Kato kind of looks like Uncle Eddie.

[@deathmatch1959]

I'm guessing Wag The Dog, The Verdict, or The Spanish Prisoner.

[@nointro]

Ok boys... have you seen "He Was A Quiet Man"? Creative movie which uses great imagery to portray the insanity of the main character.

[@VeraReduxion]

I'd love it if you guys could do a Hitchcock film after this. (:

[@sheldondowney3648]

Have you guys ever seen Black Dynamite? A ridiculous kung-fu blaxploitation movie

[@hpdanfan14]

How about Watching the Detectives? Seen it?

[@crazymonkey626]

Matt and Craig please atleast mention the Movie Willow from lucasfilms

[@Degenerate_Gen]

yay its other firday

[@7596jerky]

badlands went from "endless love" to Hannah and Randall from the show Dexter

[@ChordToNowhere]

Ernesto would never eat that Collie.

[@Emgeho]

Seven Psychopaths, seen it? It's clever, it's hilarious, and it has Christopher Walken!

[@RonaldStrigel]

Hi, Have you seen Flesh & Blood? You must have!?

[@crossrocer94]

This whole movie could be summed up by listening to "Nebraska".

[@HankCarver]

I've always referred to "The Big Bang Theory" as Geekface.

[@Officialhelpkenet]

When I hear the name Terrance Malick I imagine an indian guy saying the name.

[@BobfishAlmighty]

Now here's a question for you. Would you have liked Badlands as much if it was written and directed by, say, JJ Abrams, or Michael Bay or M. Night Shyamalan? And i mean done exactly the same, the ONLY difference being the name in the credits. Would it still resonate the same way if it was done by someone with a very different catalogue behind them? Because I find we often give a free pass to things made be people we like, whilst criticising those we don', even when they do the exact same thing

[@davidsmind]

This post is senseless PoMo mumbo jumbo.

[@BobfishAlmighty]

I have absolutely no idea what "PoMo" means

[@davidsmind]

Post modern. What you have proposed is a lazy thought experiment. Those directors could not have directed the same movie.

[@BobfishAlmighty]

Okay

[@blamesocietyfilms]

Yes I would have.

[@chewinggumsandwich2341]

Cats murder shit for no reason.

[@Chris_Blaze94]

I did not like the Dark Knight Trilogy

[@7596jerky]

billy wylde peter bogdanovich francis coppola fedorico fellini orson wells f.w. murnau akira kurosawa jean-luc godard sam peckinpah hal ashby Hitchcock Ernst Lubitsch david mamet pedro almodovar terrance malick douglas sirk

[@SteelBollocks]

Yeah.. the only thing that seperates Country from Pop is that all the artists have thick hillbilly accents and they toss in a twangy steel guitar on occasion. That and songs are required to be about america, family, and/or drinking. thats why its seperated into its own genre. If it competed with real music it would be lost and forgotten long ago

[@monsterlair]

Matt articulated everything i feel about Sucker Punch.

[@calvinjluther]

I used to know an attorney who, when he was young, was a guard in the same prison as Charles Starkweather, the killer who inspired this movie. I have nothing further to add to this comment. I knew a guy who knew a guy.

[@danzigrulze5211]

I can't wait for an Akira Karusawa flick to be on the Basement. Oh and have yall seen Waltz with Bashir? It is one of my favorites and really hits me deep being a veteran.

[@theloniousswope2814]

Craig gets his druther in the Dial M For Murder episode

[@GB-sh9st]

Love the show, I've seen them all. Have you seen Michael Mann's Heat?

[@mattburkey8393]

2:12 "We're going to be here awhile." After watching Thin Red Line and The New World, I now get this joke.

[@finderfinder100]

Badlands sounds like an early member of the couples on the run movies. Hold up with movies like Natural Born Killers, Bonnie and Clyde, True Romance, Thelma and Louise

[@rebelsatcloudnine]

I really hope you watch a Miyazaki movie sometime in the near future, excellent show as always guys :D

[@Spaztar]

I loved how you really tore into Sucker Punch, Matt. I feel exactly the same way about it, and about the idea of "geeksploitation", but most other people I know seem to either have a positive or neutral opinion about the movie.

[@PokerJoker811]

A quick bit of Googling tells me that "Geeksploitation" is a term that has seen some limited use before (most notably by Slate movie reviewer Tim Wu in describing subculture-focused films like High Fidelity and The King of Kong) but not in the way that Matt used it here.

[@ryang.5094]

How about a Paul Thomas Anderson month? I say start with "I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!!"

[@bigmookie27]

I was hoping your almodovar would be El Espinaza del Diablo, but then, he was producer, not director...still, think you should watch that if you haven't.

[@erwin21381]

What did I learn from this movie? Being a trigger happy sociopath is fun. Then again, I already knew that. :) XDD

[@MLangenbroome]

Never watched more than the first 30 minutes of Sucker Punch because it bothered me so much.

[@imyouandurme]

" I yam hewmun 'n I nuyd tew bee luuuuved...juuust lak urvybudy ayelse duuuuz!"

[@NerdOutWithMe]

I guess Oliver Stone and/or Quentin Tarantino (basic story writer) were influenced by this movie when they wrote 'natural born killers' ???

[@ZaneMillecchia]

Finally watched it fir the first time, just now, I absolutely loved it, and I've been meaning to watch it ever since this episode came out; I also was struck by how detached both the characters were to their actions. Great show!!

[@ryang.5094]

How about a clockwork orange? I think that would make for a good episode

[@kakkapekka1860]

+Ryan Golden They only watch movies that both or one of them haven't seen yet.

[@OriginalHamToast]

Long-time watcher, first-time commenter: because of you two gentleman, I am now forced to watch Badlands! Thanks for giving my Sunday evening meaning! I also have to say that I love your show and critiques. They're especially entertaining when I've seen the movie you are reviewing. Keep up the great work, I look forward to the next episode!

[@Zylork0122]

FTF on that cache.

[@radicamooselimb]

On a scale of one to Snoop Dogg, how high was Craig during the making of this video?

[@Oujouj426]

Snoopzilla, no question about it.

[@blamesocietyfilms]

As far as I could tell, not at all. That's just how his brain works.

[@radicamooselimb]

It was just his little country songs tangent in the beginning thatt made me think he was. :)

[@stormcloudsabound]

@Christopher Gilbert it's a joke chris

[@agentorangecb1]

Hear no evil, see no evil, taste no evil 🙉🙈🙊

[@ManyDog]

Have any of you watched a Boy and his dog?

[@danielfolk5266]

I'm super glad you placed the Badlands DVD next to the Nebraska album.

[@dylanbowman11]

OMFG YOU GUYS READ MY COMMENT!!!! I THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD NEVER COME! THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! Have you seen the hunger?

[@HitchcockJohn]

I'm going to have to be honest here and say that I really don't like Jean-Luc Godard's movies. I've been subjected to his movies in three film classes in a row, and none of them have had much effect on me. "Breathless" was barely tolerable, "Alphaville" I felt to be the most lazy and pathetic vision of the future ever, along with an incoherent mess of a plot (and Godard really needs to take an astronomy class so that he can learn what a "galaxy" is, because watching that film I get the impression he doesn't), and "Tout Va Bien" was just a mess that made no sense whatsoever with scenes that kept going on longer than they needed to.

[@PolakInAKilt]

Damn, Matt lost a lot of weight. Looking good, man!

[@MHArcadia]

He looks like he's lost a lot of weight but hasn't updated his wardrobe yet. :E

[@thefedd]

Thank you so much for giving me the term Geeksploitation! It seems like a decent amount of movies lately have been using some form of this to attract an audience. On the other hand if movies didn't have an audience then who would watch them. In kind of a weird attempt at starting a debate, I want to ask if there some movies that you think should never be watched?

[@VonPunk]

Mamet next, hoping for it to be 'Homicide'. Great show once again, as always, guys.

[@plancktime6859]

I have never seen this movie, but after watching your review I can see that this film is based on the real life story of Caril Ann Fugate and Charles Starkweather in the 1950s. Fugate was only 13 years old at the time of the murders. And in real life Starkweather was executed soon after the crime and Fugate went to jail until the 1970's, like 17 years. Then she moved to Ann Arbor Michigan. She became a nurse, were I bet a lot of her patients died mysteriously. Then she married a man much older then her, sound familiar, and her husband did die mysteriously.

[@LadybugMambo]

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! Yes, to everything Matt said about Sucker Punch! The only other geek-sploitation movie on par with that awfulness is Scott Pilgrim! They both make my brain hurt equally.

[@fusion451]

Clints aversion for anything Star Trek/Wars is so blatancy snobbish and considered to be too pedestrian for his approval. Galaxy Quest RAWKS much respect Craig

[@MrSandpaperCondom]

Excellent as always. Have you guys seen Pooty Tang? Because it's definitely not for everyone, but I think it's hilarious. Also, I'm so happy Matt included how Sucker Punch ruined all those songs in his critique. It was awful.

[@artrock101]

Speaking of "So much evil to speak", you guys should watch Evilspeak, if you haven't already...

[@RialVestro]

I still think Heath Ledger only got that Oscar because he died not because of his performance as the Joker. Had he still been alive I don't think he would of gotten it. The only reason is that they think it would be disrespectful to a dead man to belittle his performance. I think it's more disrespectful to Heath to lie about what I think of the Joker then to give my honest opinion. It's not against him personally, that would be disrespectful, it's just against his portrayal of that character which I can not honestly say that I liked.

[@lokik21]

I personally don't enjoy The Dark Knight Trilogy. Period. But that's me, I am however glad it has fans, just because I don't like it doesn't mean others won't. Thanks for another great show guys!

[@monsieurboddy]

Have you guys seen the movie Last Night by Canadian director Don McKellar. It's beautiful and haunting, and if you've seen it I'll be shocked and impressed.

[@SleepFan771]

I 100% agree with Matt on Suckerpunch. I couldn't even finish it it was so insulting. Covers sucked too.

[@mikecronis]

Suckerpunch was a "coping" movie exactly the same that Wizard of Oz was, a dream within a dream.

[@darthrobin2325]

Have you guys seen The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension? Such a crazy movie.

[@Sindre1]

Matt; please watch "you are wrong about sucker punch". It is a two part episode of the webseries "the big picture" It's good :)

[@IamSnoogans]

'Badlands' surprised me in the fact that I liked it at all. I've seen all of Terrence Malick's other films (not including 'To the Wonder') and didn't enjoy a single one of them. I found them all to be pretentious and just plain boring, attempting to be profound but failing to evoke any emotion in me. 'Badlands' was much easier to watch for the simple fact that it was, well... simple. I understood the intentions of the story and found it to be mostly entertaining due to the nature of the characters.

[@jubbles23]

I like Sucker Punch. The reason? It's more than just geeksploitation. It's also a film about a girl, who witnesses her stepfather abuse her sister, and tries to save her. Unfortunately her sister dies, which gives the stepdad a perfect opportunity to save his life, and destroy hers by sending her to a mental institution known in dark corners to house problematic young women, who, truly don't seem to have any mental instability and were sent there merely to get the girls out of their parents hair except for the case of the two sisters already institutionalized. The head orderly or w/e, then whores out these mentally unstable women to people inside the facility, and quite possibly, to people outside. In order for Babydoll to cope with her new environment, and with having been the cause behind her sister's death. She's, essentially, emotionally broken. However, through coaxing and not-so-gentle persuasion, she uses dance (or so we're shown). While she dances, she goes into her own little world, a third world, since the whole ballet/burlesque thing is a second world within itself. While in this world, she dreams that she has all the power in the world so she can stop the monsters in the real world. Or, maybe it's a story of what the surviving female character believes is going through Babydoll's mind while the girl dances. The story, after the first fantasy scene, starts Babydoll on a quest, because she knows these girls are being hurt, knows they are being taken advantage of, know they don't deserve to be in that institution. So the items become her quest, and to get them, every girl has to do their part, because each man seems to have a specific "taste" when it comes to girls they enjoy abusing, so it would take too long for her to get everything, when she knows all the girls need to leave ASAP so they are no longer tortured, molested, or physically hurt. I might as well continue with detailing all of the movie, but, honestly, I think if you look at this movie by actually viewing the interactions in the worlds that are not a fantasy, you start to see everything I've said.or maybe you see it in the same light as I do, or maybe you'll see it as a huge void again. I hope you see what I saw. Continue to fight the good fight that is reviewing movies, old and young, and giving us what you think of them.

[@TheRealBackRow]

Have you seen Fido? It's a favourite of mine - an unconventional comedy that features one of Billy Connelly's best performances of all time!

[@jim0_o]

I haven't seen Badlands but there seems to be a disconnect between your review and the clips from the movie. You say you can't find any cons and that you love the movie, while it looks like a soulless re-imagining of Bonnie and Clyde. (The glorification the cops seem to do of this mass murderer doesn't sit well with me either.) Since I haven't seen the movie all I can do is to think this is pretty weird.

[@GrahamBartle]

Gotta say Badlands has a few faults. You guys seemed puzzled by the characters' motives and reactions, i would suggest that is because the are unbelievable or better said not believable because of some young writing. The Thin Red Line proves he is a genius but Badlands just showed his potential.

[@rayhs1984]

Have you ever seen Dirty Mary Crazy Larry? Kinda similar movie with a great scene of a helicopter chasing a car.

[@Watcheruvdatube]

My gf hates old movies and you guys watch all kinds of movies she won't watch with me. It is great i can share my love for film vicariously through you two. This movie was a 70's version of Natural Born Killers minus the sex.

[@LaughingOwlKiller]

What may I ask is her reasoning for not liking older films.

[@LaughingOwlKiller]

Watcheruvdatube yo hmm...I have a few friends that feel the same way about older films and I am a curious person by nature so I tried to find a common link. The thing they all had in common was they were not really introduced to older film and they will not watch anything more than 3 years older than they are.

[@plamenstefanov275]

You should see the Serbian film Black Cat, White Cat by Emir Kusturica. It shows a very different culture than the american or western european

[@fryingpanjoe]

Have you seen the Japanese comedy-drama Survive Style 5+? It's one of my favorite movies of all time.

[@nointro]

Ok boys... have you seen "He Was A Quiet Man"? Creative movie which uses great imagery to portray the insanity of the main character.

[@MythEmpire42]

Have you seen "Lucky Number Slevin"? I think its a great move that has slipped under many people's radars.

[@larryparks1520]

The Dark Knight should have been called: The Joker, with more of him in it. Batman and Gordon did nothing for this film but make it too long.

[@valdega]

Catching up on my cyberpunk. Just finished reading Snow Crash a few weeks ago. Great book.

[@Champstamp83]

They just played this movie last week at the hipster bijou down the street from my house in Portland OR. What a coincidence.

[@MidnightxxCalling]

One of my favourites is Sam Rami's Darkman!!! Such a great campy Rami film..

[@DaThingOnTheDoorstep]

Sucker Punch was nothing more than Snyder's wank fantasy of school girls fighting giant samurai robots and nazis.

[@83croissant]

Kimber Clayton actually did a country cover of Addicted to Love. Don't ask me how I know.

[@TheSWATmanjack]

just to note, i love that you do this and beer and board games. Those are two different types of humor i like a lot, but anyways, have you seen " the man with the golden arm" with frank Sinatra?

[@TheNoahdjong]

Matt, you're looking good! You've lost quite some weight. And Greg you look good too, I love your classy clothes.